Public comment extended on schools LGBTQ student policy

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FILE

Public comment extended on schools LGBTQ student policy

FILE

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Board of Education has extended a public comment deadline on a new set of policies aimed at ensuring students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning are treated fairly in schools across Michigan.

MLive.com reports Friday that the comments deadline will be extended by at least 30 days from the originally scheduled April 11 date.

The policies include guidelines such as allowing a student to use restrooms based on their gender identity, addressing students by their “chosen name” and gender pronouns that “correspond to their gender identity,” ensuring staff are trained to address issues facing LGBTQ students, and supporting the creation of clubs like as gay-straight alliances.

15 comments

Kevin Rahe

>policies include guidelines such as allowing a student
>to use restrooms based on their gender identity

Uh, no. My daughter won’t be using a restroom also used by a boy who just “happens” to feel like a girl today. What is the point of having sex-segregated restrooms if you’re not going to segregate the people using them by sex?

And if we need clubs for students who experience same-sex attractions to be treated fairly, wouldn’t that also be true of those who identify with a particular religion, like Judaism, Christianity or Islam?

jerry

its real easy to fix if a person stands to pee hes a guy if they set shes a girl the first time a guy with boobs comeinto my daughters bath room hes going to have his balls in his lips as hard as he will be kicked

Andrew

WHO you are is determined by what goes on in your head.
WHAT you are is determined by your physical characteristics.
Our society protects its members’ privacy rights by having rules set up according to WHAT you are, not WHO you are.
If you have a penis, no matter what is going on in your head, a male is WHAT you are, and you therefore need to use the male facilities.
If you have a vagina, no matter what is going on in your head, WHAT you are is a female, and you need to use the female facilities.
Yes, we make exceptions for emergencies and for small children accompanied by their parents or guardians, etc., but those exceptions are ALWAYS based on physical necessity, not on an individual’s state of mind.

If this arrangement no longer works for our society, then we should come up with national legislation which reflects the change in how we protect peoples’ privacy rights, and then adapt our facilities with localized rules. Starting locally and working your way up will never work because all the legal precedents are based on an already established method of protecting privacy rights. The school system is opening itself up for some pretty serious court battles here that they will lose.

Carla G

The problem is that somehow many people have gotten it into their heads that American society should adapt to the needs of the individuals in it, rather than the individuals in it adapting to American society. This “entitlement attitude” has been catered to by politicians desperate for votes, money, and power, and does not reflect true American values, interests, or even constitutionality. It is no different than immigrants. They are expected to conform to our society, our society is not supposed to conform to them. There is a difference between being welcoming (or tolerant of someone’s differences) and catering to someone at the expense of society as a whole. We have been doing way too much of the latter for the last 50 years, primarily out of guilt for slavery and for using nuclear weapons, and our society is now falling apart because we have lost our unity as a direct result of catering to all these different groups who act as if they are entitled to special treatment. YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SPECIAL TREATMENT!!! You are entitled to the same treatment as any other American. In this case, that means you use the same bathrooms, pronouns, and public resources in the same way as every other American. Otherwise we will end up micromanaging ourselves into oblivion as everyone named Thomas will want their own bathroom, and everyone who identifies as a New Yorker will demand to be provided with a free apartment in NYC. Enough is enough! Conform, or find a society more to your liking!

Duh

This is the problem with politicians these days, trying to win a vote by sucking up to the lowest % of people . Also since when do we let kids decide our laws? Again stupid politicians playing their stupid games trying to win the hearts and minds off all instead of using common sense

Andrew

Apparently the wording of my previous effort was too specific for Fox’s filters.

WHO you are is what goes on in your head.
WHAT you are is determined by your physical characteristics.

In our society we protect peoples’ privacy rights by segregating individuals based on WHAT you are.
Not WHO you are.
THat is how our laws are set up, that is how we function as a society.
That can not be changed locally without first changing it nationally because every legal precedent supports it being done this way, and any effort that GRPS attempts will be struck down in court…at taxpayers expense.

If this needs to be addressed at all, and I am not convinced that it does, it should be addressed by Congress as it is a national issue.

J.B.

Kevin Rahe

I have no problem with a school, business or any other institution wanting to accommodate someone who is uncomfortable using a restroom designated for their own sex. What I have a problem with is obligating everyone of the OPPOSITE sex to PARTICIPATE in that accommodation in an intimate way, unwittingly and/or unwillingly.

Gonk

adam

So if my child wants to bring there Bible to school and read it and pray they will get in trouble and told they cannot do that but if my child wants to use opposite sex bathroom its okay ???? something wrong here!!!

heather

Real

If the States were still States the Fed wouldn’t be meddling in Michigan Public Schools- at all. The savings at fed level to not need Dept. of Ed. Time to get back to the basics; not suggesting the use of outhouses again!

Brenda root

I am against girls sharing a bathroom or locker room with the opposite sex no matter what they think they are. Make them a separate area if it is such a problem. I am sick and tired of having to cater to a few minorities, the majority. You think you are loosing students now wait if you start this crap there will be a large movement to home school and Christian school!! I am so sick of this crap!!!